(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display having a wide viewing angle, and more particularly, to a liquid crystal display in which a predetermined pattern is formed on common electrodes and pixel electrodes to obtain a wide viewing angle.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display (LCD) is structured having liquid crystal material injected between an upper substrate, on which common electrodes and a color filter are formed, and a lower substrate, on which thin film transistors and pixel electrodes are formed. Voltages of different potentials are applied to the pixel electrodes and common electrodes to form an electric field, thereby varying the alignment of liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal material. In this way, the transmittance of incident light is controlled to enable the display of images.
In a vertically aligned (VA) LCD, long axes of the liquid crystal molecules align themselves vertically to the substrates in a state where no electric field is formed between the substrates. Accordingly, using polarizing plates, light is completely blocked when there is no electric field. That is, in a normally black mode, since brightness of an off state is extremely low, a higher contrast ratio than obtained in a twisted nematic LCD is realized.
When an electric field is formed, however, since the slanting direction of the liquid crystal molecules is irregular, there exist areas where a polarizing direction of polarizing plates of the upper and lower substrates corresponds to the direction of the long axes of the liquid crystal molecules. In these areas, the liquid crystal molecules cannot rotate the polarizing direction of light such that the light is cut off by the polarizing plates. This results in dark areas on the screen, which is referred to as texture. Accordingly, it becomes necessary to pattern the electrodes.
Further, permanent damage to brightness may occur in the vertically aligned LCD if the display receives outside shock. That is, outside shock to the LCD may significantly alter a thickness of a liquid crystal cell is significantly altered as a result of the elastic properties of spacers used to maintain a cell gap between the substrates. Hence, the screen becomes spotted.